Toss New Zealand chose to bat vs Pakistan
New Zealand have won the toss and elected to bat. Under overcast conditions in Rawalpindi, on a day where the game has been pushed back by half an hour owing to inclement weather, Michael Bracewell decided to set a target for the hosts. In the first of five T20Is, New Zealand have handed a debut to big-hitting Tim Robinson, with the seasoned Ish Sodhi the sole specialist spinner in their XI.
Babar Azam, in his first game back as captain for Pakistan, said he would have chosen to chase anyway. Pakistan’s side is relatively new-look, too, with three debutants in the side. Usman Khan, Irfan Khan and Abrar Ahmed have all been capped at T20I level for the first time. Imad Wasim sits out, as does Azam Khan, who is recovering from a niggle. Shaheen Afridi features in his first match since losing the captaincy, while Mohammad Amir plays his first international match since his return from retirement.
Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 4 Usman Khan, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Irfan Khan, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Shaheen Afridi, 9 Naseem Shah, 10 Mohammad Amir, 11 Abrar Ahmed
New Zealand: 1 Tim Robinson, 2 Tim Seifert, 3 Dean Foxcroft, 4 Mark Chapmal, 5 Michael Bracewell (capt), 6 Josh Clarkson, 7 James Neesham, 8 Ben Lister, 9 Jacob Duffy, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Ben Sears
This article was originally published by Espncricinfo.com. Read the original article here.